Welcome to My Kidney Transplant Blog

If your NEW please take a minute and read the About Me / This Blog Page to the Right ( I updated it Sun. Aug 9th ).

This is My / Our record of dealing with my Kidney Transplant.  Its for anyone interested in my process ( friends / family ) or anyone searching the web.

Important Dates :

June 27 / 09  Started this Blog,

July 27/ 09, Transplant date.

July 13 / 2010,  Complications click the dates on the calender .

Oct 12 / 2010,  Ureter Repair Surgery and reocvery

The Rules :

1) I tell it as I see it / Experience it, be it right or wrong, correct /or in error (not intentional), It’s from My Perspective..

2)  At times it will be rather Graphic / Crude,  Off Balance and I Guarantee You will find Spelling / Grammar Errors.

3) Just because it’s been my experience does not mean it would be yours.  If you’re going through this Don’t Get Freaked by anything here.  Ask Questions of your Doc’s and Read !.   I was not expecting  some of the things I experienced and a little heads up would have been nice. BUT, I now see I didn’t do enough research or asking,  so I take responsibility for that.

Here’s the basic plan for this Blog,  (most recent posts @ top):

1) Pre-Transplant Prep ( July 2009 ),

2) The Transplant Itself  , July 27 / 09  and Hospital  Recovery

3) The Recovery Months, post Hospital,

4)The Meds ( separate page @ right)

My Original Blog about Me / Us  dealing with Failing Kidneys is still here :

http://mydamnkidneys.wordpress.com/

5 Hrs before Surgery,  Ignorance is BLISS ! !

I CAN’T CHANGE THE WIND,  BUT I CAN CONTROL MY SAILS ! !

Oh, The Dog at the top is Our Dog, He did that to himself and would probably have died if not rescued.

Please Visit the Organ Donor Registry, Sign Up and Discuss your Wishes with Your Family

-Scroll Down for the RECENT  BLOG Posts-

Some Cold Hard FACTs :

A )  25 % of People on the BC Transplant Waiting List WILL DIE Waiting !

B)   Kidney wait lists are 5 – 8  years or more, on  Dialysis,  which does not give a healthly quality of life, untreated = Death.

C)  Every Effort will be made to Save Your Life Even if You are a Registered Organ Donor.

British Columbia: www.transplant.bc.ca . 

Canada go to : http://www.transplant.ca/pubinfobecomedonor.htm,

United States Residents : USA  > http://organdonor.gov/donor/index.htm

Most Importantly, Discuss your wishes with your Family .

2 years +, doing well.

I guess no news is good news so the fact I havent posted in a while means i’m to busy living a healthy life !    A big plus as well is that my Kidney Donor Leon is doing very well, healthy, very active, good bloodwork and says if it wasnt for the scar he wouldnt believe it really happened. !  Awesome.

July 27 was the 2nd anniv of the transplant as well as marking about 8 months since the ureter repairs where compled.

Bloodwork has been around My post transplant baseline with Creatinine 195-220  and hemo between 115 and 123.     I did have 1 creatinine test in August where it climbed into the high 230′s but that was Hydration related & the transplant clinic said they were seeing a lot of higher readings during the heat.  I just had to up my water intake.

I’ve been able to work 12 hr days at times doing fairly physical work now ( although after a few it gets tiring. I cant believe I used to do them all the time and on night shifts as well ).

Recreation wise I’ve been busy, water skiing, wakeboarding, biking, hiking and my favorite,  down hill mountain biking.  The best was when Leon (My Donor) myself and our 16/17 yo sons were able to spend a full day Downhilling at Silverstar Resort.  His ultiamte gift made that possible.    I now wear full body armor and have custom  made a Transplant Kidney protector which provides a lot of protection.  Iusually ride  tamer now, still have fun at about 80 % intensity and in full control but I miss riding the edge of the envelope where its all or nothing.  That adrenalin is amazing but I have way to much to lose now.

This is a tast of what its like ( I dont go this hard ).  Video does not do it justice.  Its not us riding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tpJ2ATalBg&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9JKYadUxsI

The only thing thats still off is how my Muscles fatigue SO fast.  About 3 floights of stairs I feel a real burn in my legs,  it hasnt got better even after months of activity.  Nothing major, just something I notice.

Thats it in a nutshell,  My family and I are enjoying a normal active healthy life once again due to Leon donating his kidney, the science, pharmacueticals and doctors / nurses who work with us patients.  And of course the families and friends who where there through it all.

THANK YOU !!!!

PS  whats with the random advertising on wordpress now ?  Gotta see if I can get rid of it.

 

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1st out of County Vacation

We just got home from a family vacation. My wife son and I went to Bali, Indonesia ( pronounce Bali, or phoneticaly = Baleee  long E sound , but not  Balli ) for the 2 week spring break.

Bali is a Beautiful county with Great people.  It was our 1st time to that part of the world, it was truly awesome.  We had a lot of  fun and did some great activities. the 3 of us Scuba dive so we did 6 dives, saw 3 – 4 meter/yard  wide manta rays, dove inside a 130 meter/yard long ship wreck and saw amazing coral and fish.  My 16 year old and I did a 2 hour white water rafting trip down an amazing river with about 15 waterfalls dropping into, and some onto us while my wife shopped UBUD a nice town in the Bali interior ( in the movie Eat Pray Love ).  We did a lot of other fun things and some Great R & R time as well.  I enjoyed a few afternoon siesta’s in our A/C room as well.

Despite a great vacation in a beautiful country with my family I felt uneasy, especially the 1st few days.  Its my 1st trip since the transplant and being that far from the medical team that has been there for me pre and post transplant had me worried.  The potential financial consequences if there were complications also weighed heavy on me as travel insurance we had and the others I looked into exclude Pre-Existing conditions.  The 3rd factor was the Imuno-Suppressives I’m on an the lower standards of cleanliness and different types of “bugs” there.  I expect as time goes on and I have a longer run with the new kidney I’ll be able to travel with less anxiety over complications.

Bali Indonesia is located in the bottom approximately center of this map

This is the wreck we dove, USS Liberty

Milestone !

I Had my regular post transplant checkup a week ago. I have been off Prednisone for a 5 weeks now. All bloodwork is back to my pre complications baseline of about 200 creatinine give or take 10 ( or 2.27 ). Hemo is still a bit low around 120 ( 130 is target ) everything else is stable.

The Doc says everything looks good. I’m now at bloodwork monthly and checkup every 4 MONTHS, yes 4 Months.

Thats reassuring for sure, especially getting that news the day before we leave the country and head 1/2 way around the world for a couple weeks.

I felt mixed emotions, a bit of fear that that’s to long between appt’s and what if something goes wrong but they wouldn’t want that either and im doing monthly bloodwork so let’s look at the positive !

An added bonus is the transplant doc also signed off on my Scuba Medical Release so Im cleared to Scuba Dive again. ( the Docs a diver too so that may have helped )

Giant Cramp at Transplant Scar

A few days ago at work I had stopped to check emails.
While sitting at the computer I suddenly experienced a giant muscle cramp at the incision site over my transplanted kidney. I shot out of the chair , partially from shock, partially from discomfort. I’m glad no one was around to see me spaz. It would just reinforce the ” sick AL ” label.
I massaged the site and moved around to work it out. Overall it only lasted about 30 seconds.
I had the transplant over a year ago and had had a couple of these a few months after and was suprised to have one at this point.
Everything seems good now !

Associatons & Gettin back on the Horse !

I’ve just made another step to regain the ground I lost last summer when the transplant complications caused 6 months of drama.

When I had my flu like symptoms and felt weak and tired I had tried to eat one of my all time favorite treats,  Tiger Tiger Ice Cream.

Now its a fact that when your in a strong state either positive or negative and experience an event, esp repeatedly, an association or link is formed ( I have hundreds of these triggered by certain songs, I’m instantly transported back to a point in time, be it good or bad ) .

Well I developed an association to Tiger Ice Cream and the whole negative couple weeks surrounding that time.

I’m proud to say that with determination and perseverance  I’ve mostly broke the negative association, although the Tiger doesn’t quite get me as happy as it used to.

These guy’s are giving thanks with me for my remarkable comeback.

Happy Trails everyone.

123 years 4 months ! time to pay off Vis

123 years 4 months !
time to pay off Visa making MINIMUM monthly Payments.
Thats NUTs!
How bout we just keep paying it off every month ! http://ow.ly/i/8m1q

Kidney Clinic : Creat 199 (was 215), Hem

Kidney Clinic : Creat 199 (was 215), Hemo 118 (was 126 ), I’m off Prednisone Now , weekly bloodwork next 4 wks. Mentally Better last 5 days.

RT @leonfontaine: The ultimate measure o

RT @leonfontaine: The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in times of comfort and convenience, . . ( I ( AL ) MUST LIVE THIS )

This is  So True, I lived it a few months ago. Unfortunately I didn’t pass the test. BUT ! I did learn more from it and when I slipped back into my old Negative Outlook and easily irritated pattern I was quicker to catch it and pull up from a downward spiral.

A possible magnified of my low mood and irritability is they were cutting back my Prednisone.  I exhibited a lot of the “possible” side affects.

I still take responsability for my actions as in the end I should have talked more with those close to me and tried harder to remain in control. (It woulda been nice if I could pin it on Prednisone though

Onward and upward.

Either you run the day or the day runs y

Either you run the day or the day runs you. Jim Rohn . . .
I like it ! Now to practice it daily. . .
:-$

Difficult decision re Complications.

Difficult decision re Complications. The Majority says 1 thing, thier facts being true and legal.  The Other Majority in this that have a Transplant (Me) says another. Follow My heart or head ? Arrgh !

It’s so true, don’t judge a person until you walk in their shoes.  That being said I have to consider the feelings of those closest to me and weigh them against what I perceive the gain is If I stick to my original thinking regarding this decision.  It’s easy to lose sight of what those around you are going / have gone through when you’ve got your own feelings, physical and mental  running through your heart and mind.  I cant feel thier feelings, they cant feel mine.

Going into this crazy ride 2 years ago I wouldn’t have guessed the depth of emotions that would be tied to this whole ride long term.  I knew there would be emotions, just not to this extent. The feelings give me strength for the most part.

After an emotional discussion today as well as recent developments I’ve decided to adjust my thinking for the greater good and side with the untransplanted majority.  Needing to decide this, either way, has troubled me a lot over the past 3 months and the fact my name is associated with this  Really is a big part of my uncertainty. I have to hope it won’t Negatively Impact the other party to much. I’ve been told by reliable sources it wont.

After a lot of thought and our discussion today I feel I have Now have a way of looking at this that will allow me to live it.  Now I’ve decided (and adjusted my thinking) I will leave this behind.

(for the record this does NOT involve our donor in any way, that family is amazing ! ! )

This is just another bump on the road of life, a little shake up but still on the healthy road.

I thought about not posting this but decided I’ve been open about a lot of personal stuff so why not this, although I cant go into certain details for certain reasons.

A lot of  people ( this is a general statement, not to anyone specific )  have thier Public Side and a Not for the Public side.  We Portray ourselves how we’d like the world to see us while in our minds or behind closed doors the story may be quite different.  Hurt, Sad, Depressed, Angry, . . . I definately put on Masks at times,  I think a lot of people do at some level.    I decided going into this I’d post what really going on, warts and all, especially related to the transplant.  At times I’ve wanted to delete posts after my emotions settle but I’ve left it up as my weakness’ or struggles may be a help to someone else out there. I hope so.  If not, I guess theres no great harm in being open, as long as I’m not purposely hurtful to others.

——

Yah, I know.  You could put me in this picture and it would apply to often.

I wonder when I’ll be “All Growed Up” ?

Now lets end on a Fun note.

Those who know me will get the significance of this pic.

I’ll make the next post a happier one.

Adios !